Gen Z Premium Card Push Drives 65% of Amex New Accounts

Gen Z and millennials now account for 65% of American Express's new consumer accounts globally, pushing issuers to compete harder for a cohort that holds more cards and builds wealth faster than prior generations.

"Millennials and Gen Z are ultrasavvy and they've got more tools than anyone has had in history to choose the right product for them," said Chris Reagan, president of Chase Branded Cards.

Amex's average new U.S. Gold card user is 29, and its average new Platinum user is 33. The company reported 10% revenue growth in Q2 with EPS of $4.53, and 75% of new accounts were acquired on fee-paying products — the highest level since Amex sharpened its premium focus. Chase raised the Sapphire Reserve fee to $795 last year, and Amex followed with a Platinum increase to $895.

Younger Americans are building more wealth per person than baby boomers did at the same age, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis research, and hold more credit cards than older generations did at the same age, per TransUnion. Issuers are betting these customers will remain loyal as incomes rise, but the points-obsessed cohort tends to switch brands when perks change.

The $895 Card That Pays for Itself

Kevin Lin, 22, got the $895-a-year Amex Platinum before graduating from Harvard, planning trips across three continents and concluding the travel perks and sign-on bonus would cover the fee. "It kind of forces you to enjoy life," he said. Since graduating, he plans to switch to the Gold card at $325 because he has less time to use travel rewards.

Ally Chiu, 27, moved to New York from California for a finance job and a raise, then opted for the Chase Sapphire Reserve partly because its fee was lower than Amex's Platinum. She uses the concierge service to book restaurant reservations and obtained a table at the hard-to-reserve Polo Bar. Gabrielle Beamon, 29, paid the $395 annual fee for the Venture X card in 2024 and added the Amex Gold card in January, giving her more premium cards than her parents.

Issuers Chase a Cohort With More Cards and More Wealth

Many young Americans are entering a "happy medium" where they have both time and money to spend, said Michele Raneri, head of U.S. research and consulting at TransUnion. Many older people, meanwhile, are juggling more commitments.

Amex's lending standards are consistent regardless of age, and its Gen Z customers outperform Gen X and Boomer credit performance across all lenders, said Lisa Kalhans, Amex's executive vice president of U.S. consumer proprietary products. The company is mostly targeting Gen Zs with the best credit scores.

The shift has accelerated since 2024, when young adults made up 60% of Amex's new customer acquisitions worldwide, according to Business Insider. Amex's Platinum portfolio is now the fastest-growing in its U.S. consumer business, and card fees have grown at a double-digit rate for 32 consecutive quarters. The company raised full-year revenue guidance to 10% growth while reinvesting the outperformance in customer acquisition and technology. With 70% of new consumer Platinum accounts outside the U.S. also coming from millennials and Gen Zs, the cohort's influence on card economics is global.

Amex's credit performance also reflects the premium shift: delinquency rates have held between 1.2% and 1.3% for more than three years, and write-off rates remain below 2019 levels. The company posted a 36% return on equity in Q2 and expects card fee growth to accelerate in Q3, exiting the year in the high teens.

But capturing the Gen Z market is far from guaranteed. Many follow credit-card fanatics on social media and compare notes on rewards in group chats to make annual fees worthwhile. Esha Desai, 26, has had an Amex Platinum since her early 20s and convinced three friends to get the card, cashing in on referral bonuses — but she said she has shifted away from cards when perks and conditions changed. "I'm curious to see how my perspective on the card will shift," she said.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.